1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming apparatus that performs an electrophotographic image forming process employs a configuration in which an electrophotographic photosensitive member and a process unit that processes the electrophotographic photosensitive member are integrated into a process cartridge (hereinafter, referred to as a cartridge) that is detachably attached to a main body of the image forming apparatus.
With the cartridge, a user himself/herself can maintain the image forming apparatus without the help from a service person, whereby much better service operability can be achieved. Thus, the cartridge is widely used in image forming apparatuses.
In a conventional packed form of the image forming apparatus employing the process cartridge system, a main body of the image forming apparatus and the cartridge are packed and fixed separately. Then, the image forming apparatus is transported in a state in which interface portions between the cartridge and the main body (contact portions of an electrophotographic photosensitive member (hereinafter, referred to as a photosensitive drum) and a transfer roller, electrical contact portions, and the like) are protected. Because the main body of the image forming apparatus and the cartridge are each separately packed, the packed form is large and thus requires high cost for packing materials and transportation.
In recent years, improvement in transportation efficiency, which is achieved by reducing packing members and downsizing the packed form, has attracted attention in view of environmental protection. Thus, techniques of transporting the image forming apparatus with the cartridge fixed in the main body have been developed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-91708 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-163880 discuss configurations in which a dedicated fixing or packing member is used to fix the cartridge at an intermediate portion of a path through which the cartridge is mounted to the main body of the image forming apparatus, so that the interface portions of, for example, the photosensitive drum, the transfer roller, and the electrical contact portions, and the like can be separated from each other.
Unfortunately, the conventional examples discussed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-91708 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-163880 have the following issues.
When installing the apparatus, the user needs to take out the cartridge from the main body of the image forming apparatus, and remove the fixing member attached to the cartridge and the packing member in the apparatus main body. Thus, a large number of preparation processes is required before the user can use the image forming apparatus, and thus user friendliness is low. Furthermore, high cost is required for using the dedicated fixing and packing members for fixing the cartridge.